From a soccer icon making history to a running back’s revenge game: Five athletes who stood out this weekend
By Johannes Sasay-Wada, CNN
(CNN) — This weekend, Lionel Messi scored his second hat-trick in four days, while Harry Kane also took home the match-ball to end Bayern Munich’s ‘mini-crisis.’
Former WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones finally got her ring at the fourth time of asking, while Saquon Barkley reminded Giants fans just what they’re missing as he put up a stat line for the ages in his return to MetLife Stadium.
These are five athletes who shone this past weekend.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi continues to show us why he is one of the best to ever step foot on a soccer pitch. The 37-year-old scored three goals in 11 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute to help Inter Miami come back from two goals down and thrash the New England Revolution 6-2.
It was the 59th hat-trick of Messi’s glittering career, but his first in the bright pink of Inter Miami.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner only played 35 minutes and wasted no time impacting the game, producing a sublime chipped ball to help create Miami’s go-ahead goal.
Messi then blew New England Revolution away, scoring his treble in an 11-minute burst. First, he combined beautifully with Luis Suárez before dropping the shoulder on Xavier Arreaga and curling the ball into the far corner from 20 yards out.
His second was a composed finish between the legs of the goalkeeper. Messi combined devastatingly with former Barcelona teammate Suárez for the entire second half, rolling back the years and completed his hat-trick after some more sublime buildup play. After a series of short, quick passes, Suárez lofted a ball into the box that Messi volleyed into the corner.
Messi finishes the regular season with 20 goals and 16 assists in 19 matches, while the win means Inter Miami has finished with an MLS-record 74 regular season points.
It was Messi’s second hat-trick in four days, after scoring a treble and registering two assists for world champion Argentina against Bolivia on Wednesday.
Jonquel Jones
Jonquel Jones stepped up in a huge way to help the New York Liberty win their first WNBA title in a winner-takes-all Game 5 in Brooklyn.
The Bahamian-born center was awarded the WNBA Finals MVP after averaging 17.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists across the closely contested series.
In Game 5, she delivered 17 points, six rebounds and one assist. Her contribution was vital, leading the scoring for the Liberty on a night that Sabrina Ionescu struggled with shooting and ended with only five points.
Jones was the sixth overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft and had made it to the Finals three times previously. This year, the 2021 MVP managed to break both ducks and finally claim that elusive WNBA ring alongside the Finals MVP trophy.
She worked tirelessly for her teammates and was the most consistent player for New York across the series. Jones now joins Australian Lauren Jackson and Belgian Emma Meesseman as the only non-American players to win a Finals MVP.
Saquon Barkley
Saquon Barkley was nothing short of unstoppable against his former team, the New York Giants, on Sunday. The 27-year-old running back ran for 176 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries in an absolute clinic against the team that drafted him second overall in 2018.
Barkley acrimoniously left the Giants this offseason to sign with bitter NFC East rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, and was met by a chorus of boos every time he stepped onto the MetLife turf.
Barkley even saw his jersey being burned on the way into the stadium but showed no signs of letting it affect his performance. He recorded six first downs and had rushes of 55, 41 and 38 yards as the Giants defense and fans floundered in their attempts to stop him.
While the Philadelphia Eagles have been inconsistent so far this season, their record now stands at 4-2 and, with Barkley in the backfield, they remain a dangerous proposition on any given Sunday as he has shown he is still in his prime – he hit a career-best top speed of 21.93 mph on his 55-yard run.
Harry Kane
Goal droughts don’t happen very often to England’s all-time leading goalscorer.
When they do, they don’t last long.
Harry Kane had gone 393 minutes without a goal before striking from distance to put Bayern Munich 1-0 up against Stuttgart.
The Englishman then added two more strikes in the following 23 minutes to secure his hat-trick and help the Bavarians on their way to a resounding 4-0 win to stay top of the Bundesliga – albeit level with fellow title hopeful RB Leipzig.
Bayern hadn’t won in its last three games before the international break – enough to spark the German media into a mini-frenzy, questioning whether there was a crisis under new manager Vincent Kompany.
Kane did what he has done for his entire career and put the speculation to rest with his sixth Bundesliga hat-trick. The former Tottenham man is certainly loving life in Germany – he is already only two hat-tricks behind his Premier League total of eight and is only just into his second season.
Daria Kasatkina
World No. 11 Daria Kasatkina fought back from a 3-0 deficit in the final set to win the Ningbo Open title against Mirra Andreeva.
It was a decidedly up-and-down contest between the two friends who both occupy top 20 positions in the world rankings. Kasatkina opened the game well, cruising the first set 6-0 before Andreeva returned with a 4-6 victory to level.
Kasatkina had already lost in four finals this year and must have been feeling a sense of déjà vu at 3-0 down in the final set. The Russian had to dig deep to turn the game back in her favor, effectively using her heavy groundstrokes to regain the range and win five straight games.
Kasatkina was almost faultless on break points, converting seven of her eight chances and wrapped up the title against her 17-year-old compatriot in one hour and 56 minutes.
It was a remarkably composed and professional finish to a game where momentum swung back and forth, with Kasatkina eventually securing her sixth hardcourt title, while a teary-eyed Andreeva looked on as her compatriot was presented her title.
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